What happened to the love DU had for Anonymous?

[Puzzledtraveller]

Has the mainstream effort to marginalize them been that effective?

I could ask the same about Julian Assange, OWS.

What has changed? DU was once alight with support for these groups.

[rbixby]

1. Good question

I think that their extralegal tactics kind of soured things around here.

[JDPriestly]

2. I sympathize with people who struggle against the excessive secrecy of our government, but

if they violate the law, they know they will probably pay a price.

Assange was not especially targeting the US government. He just went for secrecy. I don't think they have evidence that he really did anything other than publish information that was provided to him by others including whistleblowers.

As for Anonymous, they aren't well defined. It's hard to have an attitude toward Anonymous.
Seems to be some sort of amorphous non-group of individuals doing various things.

[wildeyed]

3. I soured on OWS when I saw them in person at the DNC.

They appeared to be a bunch of mean drunks with hated for everyone. They snarled traffic for no reason and then insulted the people standing around waiting for them to move so we could get where we were going. I was extremely supportive of OWS at the start, but sadly my personal interaction with them was not positive.

[Marrah_G]

6. That's not what I saw in Boston

[Lady Freedom Returns]

16. That's not what I saw in Springfield MO. either. n/t

[librabear]

4. The people here aren't liberals.

They're just anti-republicans.

[Lady Freedom Returns]

10. Speak for yourself about not being libaral. n/t

[Marrah_G]

5. I'm still a supporter of all three

[Lady Freedom Returns]

9. +1 n/t

[EastKYLiberal]

7. Anonymous is a concept. OWS is irrelevant. And Assange is a conceited asshole. nt

[starroute]

8. Not having spokespeople is a two-edged sword

It means there are no leaders for the government to take out, but it also means that anybody who claims to speak for OWS or Anonymous can't be disavowed. That means that any obnoxious loudmouth who says things the national media will love to jump on can be painted as a de facto representative of the movement.

In addition, Anonymous has been disrupted by the many arrests of active hackers, even though they claim they haven't.

And OWS seems to have moved away from public protest and into community organizing -- everything from Occupy Sandy to Occupy the NRA. They're actively working on issues like debt and foreclosure, but they a lot less visible.

I think OWS, or some mutation of it, is going to come back round in a variety of forms. But at the moment, they're at a low ebb -- and DU, which does tend to chase the shiniest targets, reflects that.

[datasuspect]

11. repression of left wing populist movements

is of paramount importance to pigfuckers everywhere.

the greasy wheels of paid disruptors, trolls, and rw media influence thrive here and everywhere else.

DU is NOT a hotbed of left wing populist movement ideology.

[randome]

12. Then perhaps you should find another forum that values your overuse of the word 'pigfuckers'.

[datasuspect]

18. that's just my shorthand terminology

you could just ignore me. please feel free to do so.

on edit:

what is it about left wing populist movements that is so repellent to you?

do you prefer the state sanctioned right wing populist movements like the Tea Party?

pick a side.

[randome]

19. I will never have anyone on Ignore. I think that's the easy way out.

And I don't have a problem with populist movements at all. I just wish the ones we saw last year were a little more effective.

OWS fell apart because, like the GOP, no one was in charge.
Anonymous has been wrong at times, as when they mistakenly identified the wrong person as a pedophile.
And of course there was that ridiculous assertion that they saved us from Carl Rove during the election. Juvenile stuff.
And Assange truly is a narcissist, that's just my view of his actions.

[Earth_First]

13. That's gonna leave a mark!

+1

[Lady Freedom Returns]

14. That being said...

There are some members here that are big backers of such things as OWS.

So let's not alienate those/us that do.

[IcyPeas]

15. Julian Assange will be on Bill Maher this Friday

[Puzzledtraveller]

17. Thanks for the tip

[Scuba]

20. Still here.

[mwrguy]

21. Anonymous appears to have been taken over by libertarians

They do a few good things, but lately it seems like they just want to wreck government.